dreaded reality
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sometimes, it rains.
After a late afternoon and early evening of threatening weather, with a humble narrator carefully choosing his path to offer shelter from the ominous skies, the amount of energy flowing about in the heavens caused a Götterdämmerung of a storm to pop. Water began cascading down, and I ducked under the off ramps of the Queensboro Bridge found at Dutch Kills Street for a few minutes until the initial torrent passed through.
You gotta know your zone, I always say.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once the initial flush of storm had crackled through, I deployed the umbrella again and began quick stepping to a subway stop at Queens Plaza which would allow me to get back to Astoria with a minimum of fuss.
Saying that, water was flying around horizontally, and upon returning to HQ, I had to turf out all my gear from the bags and hang them off of a hook for an entire day to allow them to dry out. The gear on the interior of the bags was fine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I made it, just in time as it turned out, to the intended stop.
Lots of people were running about, and I discovered that about 60% of the population in LIC doesn’t check the weather before they leave for the day. This was obvious, because of the fact that only about 40% of passerby were outfitted with umbrellas or other rain gear. Of course, the population of people who have recently moved into Queens Plaza’s new luxury condos display a gait that indicates that walking is a fairly novel experience for them, as opposed to stationary cycling on their Pelotons.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It took about 5 minutes for the R to arrive “downstairs” at the Queens Plaza IND station, and I boarded a train.
What? You people don’t wear masks on the subway anymore?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Astoria and the sky had really opened up.
I’ve worked out a system for carrying my umbrella that involves jamming it in amongst the straps of the two bags I use for my camera gear. I’m able to thereby able to not have to commit an entire hand to carrying and managing it, which allows me to keep on shooting.
I’d normally toss a shot like the one above, with the umbrella in frame, but there’s something I really like about it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had to fjord a couple of street rivers on my way back to HQ.
You’re not imagining it, by the way. Storms in NYC are quite different than they used to be and our average rainfall is actually a lot higher than it used to be. It’s disguised by the official numbers, which describe “precipitation” rather than rain or snow. NYC doesn’t get multiple yards of snow anymore, which melts slowly, instead it gets drenching rains and powerful thunderstorms which flood the streets.
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The Newtown Pentacle 
Love your observation about the residents of the new LIC condos, I know a few.
dbarms8878
July 11, 2022 at 9:06 pm